The polar bear is a predator or omnivore. Types of bears

• Class: Mammalia Linnaeus, 1758 = Mammals
• Infraclass: Eutheria, Placentalia Gill, 1872 = Placental, higher animals
• Squad:
• Family: Carnivora Bowdich, 1821 = Carnivores
• Family: Ursidae Gray, 1825 = Ursidae, bears
• Genus: Ursus Linnaeus, 1758 = Bears

Is the bear a predator?

Basically, bears are content with plant food, but if there is a shortage of it and once they have tasted animal meat, they become a predator in the full sense of the word, especially terrible for domestic animals. He is quite considered the worst enemy of horses, cows, etc.

Having tasted the meat, the bear loses its good-natured disposition and becomes very bloodthirsty. Many hunters say that the bear also feeds on carrion. At least in Siberia, it often happens that during livestock deaths, peasants bury their dead animals, and bears dig them up to satisfy their hunger. Having fattened up their body and fat throughout the summer and autumn, with the approach of winter the bears prepare a den for themselves in some cave, or in the hollows of trees, or in the thicket of the forest.

Before lying down in the den, the bear confuses its tracks like a hare, meanders through the brown, mossy swamps, through the water, jumps sideways from the track through fallen trees, in a word, it goes back and forth more than once. Only then will he lie down, reassured that the trail is well entangled.

If the summer was poor in food, then some, especially thin, bears do not lie in the den at all; they wander around hungry all winter. These connecting rods, as they are called, are “suicide bombers”; they will die before spring. Connecting rods are dangerous to humans, cattle and any animal - even to a bear sleeping in a den. There was a case: a small connecting rod bear dug up the den of a bear that was healthier than him, bitten and ate the sleepy Toptygin. Some bears, in places where it is not very cold, lie down for the winter right among young spruce trees, just bending their tops above them - it turns out something like a hut, and they sleep in it. But where the winter is cold, they dig a hole for a den somewhere close to the water, in a swamp, under a root fallen tree. Others cover the pit with brushwood, branches, and moss. Such a den is said to have a “sky,” that is, a roof. A den’s “brow” is a hole in a den—an outlet.

They say about a bear that it sucks its paw in winter. Maybe some people suck because they think that the soles of their soles shed and itch. But, says A. Cherkasov, he has never heard of bears being caught in dens with sucked paws: they are all dry, dirty since the fall, covered in dust and with dried mud.

The further east the bears live, the larger they are. In the Old World the most big bears- Kamchatka. In Alaska and some islands close to it, even larger specimens are found. This is the brown bear Kadlyak - the heavyweight champion among all predators on Earth (weighing up to 751 kg). When this animal stands, leaning on all four legs, its height at the withers is up to 130 cm (for a European bear, on average, 1 m).

The she-bear retires to her den already in early November, while bears roam as early as December, despite the snow and frost. And some old animals lead a wandering life all winter. Even bears that retire to a den do not always fall into continuous hibernation, only those that are heavily overfed and fat sleep motionless, while the rest lie very sensitively and stick their heads out of the den, or “greet” - as the hunters say - at every approach of a person; and she-bears sometimes directly rush at the violator of their peace. Feeling the smell of spring, they get out of the den and into the light.

Having become hungry during the winter, it goes out to get food. But first he takes a laxative - in the form of cranberries and moss, of which he eats enormous quantities. Having cleared his stomach, he hurries to strengthen his body, weakened by hibernation. During this rather hungry time, it can attack livestock.

The brown or common bear is a predatory mammal from the bear family. This is one of the largest and dangerous species terrestrial predators. There are about twenty subspecies of brown bear, differing in appearance and distribution area.

Description and appearance

The appearance of a brown bear is typical of all representatives of the bear family. The body of the animal is well developed and powerful.

Appearance

There is a high withers, as well as a fairly massive head with small ears and eyes. The length of the relatively short tail varies between 6.5-21.0 cm. The paws are quite strong and well developed, with powerful and non-retractable claws. The feet are very wide, five-toed.

Dimensions of a brown bear

The average length of a brown bear living in the European part is usually about one and a half to two meters with a body weight in the range of 135-250 kg. There are several individuals inhabiting the central zone of our country smaller in size and can weigh approximately 100-120 kg. The Far Eastern bears and bears are considered the largest, their sizes often reaching three meters.

Skin color

The color of a brown bear is quite variable. Differences in the color of the skin depend on the habitat, and the color of the fur can vary from a light fawn shade to a bluish-black. The standard color is brown.

This is interesting! A characteristic feature of the grizzly bear is the presence of hair on the back with whitish ends, due to which there is a kind of graying on the coat. Individuals with a grayish-white color are found in the Himalayas. Animals with reddish-brown fur inhabit Syria.

Lifespan

IN natural conditions The average lifespan of a brown bear is approximately twenty to thirty years. In captivity, this species can live fifty years, and sometimes more. Rare individuals survive in natural conditions to the age of fifteen years.

Subspecies of brown bear

The brown bear species includes several subspecies or so-called geographical races, which differ in size and color.

The most common subspecies:

• European brown bear with a body length of 150-250 cm, tail length of 5-15 cm, height at the withers of 90-110 cm and an average weight of 150-300 kg. A large subspecies with a powerful build and a pronounced hump at the withers. General coloration varies from light grayish-yellow to blackish-dark brown. The fur is thick and long enough;
• Caucasian brown bear with medium length body 185-215 cm and body weight 120-240 kg. The coat is short, coarse, and paler in color than that of the Eurasian subspecies. Color ranges from a pale straw color to a uniform gray-brown color. There is a pronounced, large dark-colored spot in the withers area;
• East Siberian brown bear with a body weight of up to 330-350 kg and a large skull size. The fur is long, soft and dense, with a pronounced shine. The wool has a light brown or blackish-brown or dark brown color. Some individuals are characterized by the presence of fairly clearly visible yellowish and black shades in color;
• Ussuri or Amur brown bear. In our country, this subspecies is well known as the black grizzly. The average body weight of an adult male can vary between 350-450 kg. The subspecies is characterized by the presence of a large and well-developed skull with an elongated nasal part. The skin is almost black. Distinctive feature is presence long hair on the ears.

One of the largest subspecies in our country is the Far Eastern or Kamchatka brown bear, whose average body weight often exceeds 450-500 kg. Large adults have a large, massive skull and a wide, raised front of the head. The fur is long, dense and soft, pale yellow, blackish-brown or completely black in color.

The area where the brown bear lives

The natural distribution area of ​​brown bears has undergone significant changes over the last century. Previously, subspecies were found in vast areas stretching from England to Japanese Islands, as well as from Alaska to central Mexico.

Today, due to the active extermination of brown bears and their eviction from inhabited territories, the most numerous groups of predators are recorded only in the western part of Canada, as well as in Alaska and forest areas our country.

Bear lifestyle

The period of activity of the predator occurs at dusk, early morning and evening hours. The brown bear is a very sensitive animal, orienting itself in space mainly through hearing, as well as smell. Characteristic is poor vision. Despite its impressive size and large body weight, brown bears They are practically silent, fast and very easy to move predators.

This is interesting! The average running speed is 55-60 km/h. Bears swim quite well, but they can move through deep snow cover with great difficulty.

Brown bears belong to the category of sedentary animals, but young animals separated from the family are capable of wandering and actively looking for a partner. Bears mark and defend the boundaries of their territory. IN summer period bears rest directly on the ground, located among forbs and low shrubby plants. With the onset of autumn, the animal begins to prepare for itself a reliable winter shelter.

Nutrition and prey of the brown bear

Brown bears are omnivores, but the basis of their diet is vegetation, represented by berries, acorns, nuts, roots, tubers and the stem parts of plants. In a lean year, oats and corn are good substitutes for berries. Also, the predator’s diet necessarily includes all kinds of insects, represented by ants, worms, lizards, frogs, field and forest rodents.

Large adult predators are capable of attacking young artiodactyls. Roe deer, fallow deer, deer, wild boar and elk can become prey. An adult brown bear can break the back of its prey with one blow of its paw, after which it covers it with brushwood and guards it until the carcass is completely eaten. Near water areas, some subspecies of brown bears hunt seals, fish and seals.

Grizzly bears are capable of attacking baribal bears and taking prey from smaller predators.

This is interesting! Regardless of age, brown bears have excellent memory. These wild animals are able to easily remember mushroom or berry places, and also quickly find their way to them.

The basis of the diet of the Far Eastern brown bear in summer and autumn is salmon going to spawn. In lean years and poor food supply, a large predator is capable of attacking even domestic animals and grazing livestock.

Reproduction and offspring

The mating season of the brown bear lasts a couple of months and begins in May, when the males engage in fierce fights. Females mate with several adult males at once. Latent pregnancy involves the development of an embryo only during the hibernation stage of the animal. The female carries the cubs for approximately six to eight months.. Blind and deaf, completely helpless and covered with sparse hair, the cubs are born in a den. As a rule, the female bears two or three babies, whose height at the time of birth does not exceed a quarter of a meter and weighs 450-500 g.

This is interesting! In the den, the cubs feed on milk and grow to three months, after which they develop milk teeth and become able to independently feed on berries, vegetation and insects. However, cubs are breastfed for up to one and a half years or more.

Not only the female takes care of the offspring, but also the so-called nurse daughter, who appeared in the previous litter. The cubs live next to the female until they are about three or four years old, until they reach puberty. The female usually produces offspring once every three years.

Brown bear hibernation

The sleep of a brown bear is completely different from the period of hibernation characteristic of other species of mammals. During hibernation, the brown bear's body temperature, breathing rate, and pulse remain virtually unchanged. The bear does not fall into a state of complete stupor, and in the first days only dozes.

At this time, the predator listens sensitively and reacts to the slightest danger by leaving the den. In warm and little snowy winters, if available large quantity food, some males do not dive into hibernation. Sleep occurs only with the onset of severe frosts and can last less than a month. During sleep, the reserves of subcutaneous fat that were accumulated in the summer and autumn are wasted.

Preparation for sleep

Winter shelters are established by adults in reliable, remote and dry places, under a windbreak or the roots of a fallen tree. The predator is able to independently dig a deep den in the ground or occupy mountain caves and rock crevices. Pregnant brown bears try to create a deeper, more spacious, warm den for themselves and their offspring, which is then lined from the inside with moss, spruce branches and fallen leaves.

This is interesting! Young bear cubs always spend the winter with their mother. Such a company can be joined by bear cubs in their second year of life.

All adult and solitary predators hibernate alone. The exception is individuals living on the territory of Sakhalin and Kuril Islands. Here, the presence of several adult individuals in one den is often observed.

Duration of hibernation

Depending on the weather conditions and some other factors, brown bears are able to stay in a den for up to six months. The period when a bear lies in a den, as well as the duration of hibernation itself, may depend on the conditions set weather conditions, fattening yield food base, gender, age parameters and even the physiological state of the animal.

This is interesting! Old and fat wild animal goes to hibernate much earlier, even before significant snow cover falls, and young and insufficiently fed individuals lie down in the den in November-December.

The period of occurrence lasts for a couple of weeks or several months. Pregnant females are the first to settle in for the winter. Lastly, old males occupy dens. The same place for hibernation in winter can be used by a brown bear for several years.

Bears-rods

Shatun is a brown bear that has not had time to accumulate a sufficient amount of subcutaneous fat and, for this reason, is not able to hibernate. In the process of searching for any food, such a predator is capable of wandering around the surrounding area all winter. As a rule, such a brown bear moves uncertainly, has a shabby and relatively exhausted appearance. appearance.

This is interesting! When meeting with dangerous opponents, brown bears emit a very loud roar, stand on their hind legs and try to knock down their opponent with a strong blow from their powerful front paws.

Hunger forces the beast to often appear in close proximity to human habitation. The connecting rod bear is typical for the northern regions, characterized by harsh winters, including the territory of the Far East and Siberia. A massive invasion of connecting rod bears can occur during lean seasons, approximately once every ten years. Hunting connecting rod bears is not a commercial activity, but a necessary measure.

We have all known these powerful animals since childhood. But few people know what types of bears exist. Pictures in children's books most often introduced us to brown and polar bears. It turns out that there are several species of these animals on Earth. Let's get to know them better.

Appearance of the bear

If we compare bears with other predators, they differ in the most uniform appearance, internal structure, and size. Currently, these are the largest representatives of terrestrial predatory animals. For example, polar bears can reach a body length of up to three meters and weigh 750 and even 1000 kg!

Animal fur has a well-developed undercoat; it is quite rough to the touch. The hairline is high. He just can’t boast of such a fur coat - his coat is low and sparse.

The color is varied - from black to white, and can be contrasting. The color does not change over the seasons.

Lifestyle

Different species of bears live in the most different conditions. They thrive in the steppes and highlands, in forests and in arctic ice. In this regard, the types of bears differ in their feeding methods and lifestyle. Most representatives of these predators prefer to settle in mountain or lowland forests, much less often in treeless highlands.

Bears are active mainly at night. The only exception is the polar bear - a species of animal that leads daytime look life.

Bears are omnivores. However, some species have a preference for one food or another. For example, a polar bear almost always eats the meat of mammals; for a panda, there is no better treat than bamboo shoots. True, they supplement it with a small amount of animal food.

Variety of species

Quite often, animal lovers ask the question: “How many species of bears live on Earth?” For those interested in these animals, there seems to be a myriad of them. Unfortunately, it is not. Today our planet is inhabited by species of bears, a list of which can be presented as follows:

There are subspecies and varieties of these animals, but we will talk about this in another article.

Brown bears

These are large and clumsy-looking animals. They belong to the bear family. Body length - from 200 to 280 cm.

This is a fairly common type. lives throughout the Eurasian and North American forests. Nowadays, this predator has completely disappeared from Japan, although in ancient times it was widespread here. In Western and Central Europe, brown bears can be found quite rarely, in some mountainous areas. There is reason to claim that in these areas it is an endangered species. The brown bear is still widespread in Siberia, Far East And northern regions our country.

Brown bears are sedentary animals. A forest area occupied by one individual can reach several hundred square kilometers. It cannot be said that bears strictly guard the boundaries of their territories. Each site has permanent places where the animal feeds and builds temporary shelters and dens.

Despite being sedentary, this predator can wander over a distance of more than 300 kilometers in hungry years in search of more abundant food.

Hibernation

Everyone knows that in winter the brown bear hibernates. He first carefully prepares his den, which he arranges in hard-to-reach places - on islands in the middle of swamps, in a windfall. The bear lines the bottom of its winter home with dry grass or moss.

To survive the winter safely, a bear must accumulate at least fifty kilograms of fat. To do this, he eats about 700 kilograms of berries and about 500 kilograms of pine nuts, not counting other food. When there is a lean year for berries, bears in the northern regions raid fields sown with oats, and in the southern regions - corn crops. Some bears attack apiaries and destroy them.

Many people believe that during hibernation, animals go into suspended animation. This is not entirely true. They sleep quite lightly. During hibernation, when the animal lies motionless, its cardiac and pulmonary systems slow down their activity. A bear's body temperature ranges from 29 to 34 degrees. Every 5-10 breaths there is a long pause, sometimes lasting up to four minutes. In this state, the fat reserve is used sparingly. If during this period the bear is raised from the den, it begins to quickly lose weight and is in dire need of food. Such a bear turns into a “tramp”, or, as it is popularly called, a connecting rod. In this state he is very dangerous.

Depending on the climatic conditions the predator can hibernate for three to six months. If there is food in the southern regions, bears may not go into continuous hibernation at all, but only fall asleep for a short time. Females with one-year-old cubs sleep in the same den.

Nutrition

Different types of bears prefer to eat different foods. Animals of this species most often feed on fruits, berries and other plant foods, but sometimes they can eat ants, insect larvae, rodents, along with winter supplies. Quite rarely, males hunt forest ungulates. Despite its external clumsiness, the brown bear can be very fast and agile. It sneaks up on its prey unnoticed and grabs it in a quick lunge. At the same time, its speed reaches 50 km/h.

White bears

IUCN - The International Union for Conservation of Nature has expanded the list of endangered animals for the first time in several years. New species appeared in it. Polar bears were brought not only into this international list, but also in the Red Book of Russia. Today their number is only 25 thousand individuals. According to scientists, this population will decline by almost 70% in the next 50 years.

Rare species of bears (you can see the photo in our article), which recently include white bears, suffer from industrial pollution of their habitats, global warming and, of course, poaching.

Appearance

Many people believe that white, polar, northern, sea or oshkuy are types of polar bears. In fact, this is what one species is called carnivorous mammal from the bear family, the closest relative of the brown bear.

Its length is three meters, weight is about a ton. The most large animals The smallest ones are found off the coast - on Spitsbergen.

Polar bears are distinguished from other species by their long hair and flat head. The color can be completely white or with a yellowish tint. IN summer time the fur turns yellow when exposed to sunlight. The skin of these animals is black.

The soles of the paws are reliably protected by wool so as not to slip on ice and not freeze.

Lifestyle and nutrition

According to scientists, the polar bear is the most predatory of the entire family. After all, he practically does not consume plant foods. Various types of bears (photos and names of which are posted in our article) are almost never the first to attack a person. Unlike its counterparts, the polar bear quite often hunts people.

The main “menu” of these predators consists of seals, mainly ringed seals. In addition, he feeds on any animals that he manages to kill. These could be rodents, birds, walruses, or whales washed ashore. For the predator itself, killer whales pose a danger, as they can sometimes attack in the water.

Reproduction

In October, females begin to dig a den in the snow. They settle there in mid-November. Pregnancy lasts 230-240 days. Cubs are born at the end of the Arctic winter. The female first bears offspring when she is 4-6 years old. Cubs appear once every two to three years. There are from one to three cubs in a litter. Newborns are completely helpless and weigh about 750 grams. The babies begin to see after a month, after two months their teeth erupt, and the babies begin to gradually leave the den. They do not part with the bear until she is one and a half years old. Polar bears are not very fertile, so their numbers are recovering too slowly.

Black bear

It is also called baribal. Its body length is 1.8 m, weight is about 150 kg. The bear has a sharp muzzle, high paws with long and sharp claws, short and smooth black fur. Sometimes the color is black-brown, except for the light yellow muzzle.

The black bear feeds exclusively on plant foods - larvae, insects, and small vertebrates.

The female's pregnancy lasts up to 210 days, the cubs are born in January-February, weighing 400 grams, and remain with the mother until April.

Himalayan bear

This animal is smaller in size than the brown one. In addition, these types of bears differ in appearance. The Himalayan bear has a slimmer build, a thin muzzle, thick and lush fur, usually black in color with a white, sometimes yellowish spot on the chest (shaped like the letter V).

Large adult individuals can reach a length of 170 cm and weigh 140-150 kg. Habitat - East Asia. In the west, it can be found in Afghanistan, Indochina, and on the southern slopes of the Himalayas. On the territory of our country it is found only in the Ussuri region, north of the Amur.

In spring it feeds on last year's acorns and pine nuts. In summer, he enjoys eating juicy grass, berries, and insects. There is evidence that in South Asia it often attacks domestic animals and can be dangerous to humans.

There are usually two cubs in a litter. Their weight does not exceed 400 grams. They develop very slowly, even at the age of a month and a half, and are completely helpless.

Spectacled bear

We continue to study the types of bears, getting acquainted with the indigenous inhabitants of South America. He settles in the mountains - from Colombia to Northern Chile. This is a spectacled bear - not a very good animal large sizes. Its body, no more than 1.7 m long, weighs about 140 kg.

The bear is covered with thick, shaggy fur of black or black-brown color, with white spots around the eyes (hence its name). Preferring mountains, the animal also often appears on meadow slopes. Its biology is still poorly understood, but at the same time, scientists consider it the most herbivorous in the entire family. He is a lover of leaves and roots, fruits and branches of young bushes. Sometimes he climbs tall palm trees to get his favorite delicacy, breaks young branches, and then eats them on the ground.

Sloth bear

For our compatriots, the last animals on our list are exotic species of bears. You can see their photos and names in numerous domestic and foreign publications about animals.

Sloth bear - inhabitant tropical countries. He lives in the forests of Hindustan and Ceylon. It can be up to 1.8 m long and weighs approximately 140 kg. This is a rather slender animal, on high legs, with huge claws. The muzzle is somewhat pointed. There is a light V-shaped mark on the chest. The bear is active at night. During the day he sleeps soundly, and (which is typical only for this species) snores surprisingly loudly.

The sloth fish feeds mainly on fruits and insects. With the help of huge claws, he easily breaks rotten, dilapidated tree trunks, and then he uses an amazing device that can resemble a pump. The long muzzle of the animal has very mobile lips that extend, forming something like a tube.

The sponge fish lacks the upper pair of incisors, as a result of which there is a gap in the oral cavity. This feature allows the animal to hunt for termites. First, it blows out all the dust and dirt from the insects’ “house,” and then draws in the prey through its lips elongated into a tube.

Mating of spongers occurs in June, after seven months 2-3 babies appear. They spend 3 months in a shelter with their mother. At first, the father of the family takes care of his cubs, which is not typical for other bear species.

Panda

This animal, 1.2 m long and weighing up to 160 kg, lives in the mountain forests of the western provinces of China. Prefers solitude, except during mating time. This is usually spring.

Offspring appear in January. Mostly 2 cubs are born, weighing about two kilograms each. Unlike other bears, it does not hibernate. It feeds on various plants, bamboo roots, sometimes small rodents and fish.

Biruang

This is the name of the Malayan bear. This is the smallest representative of the bear family. Its body length does not exceed 1.4 m, its height is no more than 0.7 m, and its weight is about 65 kg. Despite its modest size, compared to its brothers, this animal is strong. Biruang has a short muzzle, wide paws with powerful curved claws. The body of the animal is covered with smooth, short, straight, black hair. There is a white or orange mark on the chest, shaped like a horseshoe. The muzzle is orange or gray. Sometimes the legs are also light.

Biruang is a nocturnal animal, so during the day it sleeps and basks in sun rays, in the branches of trees. By the way, he climbs trees very well and feels completely comfortable on them.

Feeds on young shoots. The female gives birth to two cubs. The animal does not hibernate.

Bears or bears (lat. Ursidae) are a family that includes mammals from the order of predatory animals. The difference between all bears and other canine-like animals is their stockier and well-developed physique.

Description of the bear

All mammals from the order Carnivores originate from a group of marten-like primitive predators known as miacidae, which lived in the Paleocene and Eocene. All bears belong to the fairly numerous suborder Caniformia. Everything is supposed to be fine famous representatives of this suborder descended from one dog-like ancestor, common to all species of such animals.

Relative to other families from the order of predatory animals, bears are animals with the greatest uniformity in appearance, size, and are also similar in many features in internal structure. All bears are among the most major representatives terrestrial modern predatory animals. The body length of an adult polar bear reaches three meters with a weight ranging from 720-890 kg, and the Malayan bear is one of the smallest representatives of the family, and its length does not exceed one and a half meters with a body weight of 27-65 kg.

Appearance, colors

Male bears are approximately 10-20% larger than females, and in a polar bear such figures can be even 150% or more. The animal's fur has a developed and fairly coarse undercoat. The tall, sometimes shaggy type of hair in most species has a pronounced density, and the fur of the Malayan bear is low and quite sparse.

The fur color is uniform, from coal-black to whitish. The exception is, which has a characteristic contrast black and white color. There may be light markings in the chest area or around the eyes. Some species are characterized by individual and so-called geographical variability in fur color. Bears exhibit marked seasonal dimorphism, expressed by changes in height and density of fur.

All representatives of the Bear family are distinguished by their stocky and powerful bodies, often with fairly high and pronounced withers. Also characteristic are strong and well-developed, five-fingered paws with large non-retractable claws. The claws are controlled by powerful muscles, thanks to which animals climb trees, dig the ground, and easily tear apart prey. The length of grizzly claws reaches 13-15 cm. The gait of a predatory animal is plantigrade, characteristically shuffling. The giant panda has a sixth additional “finger” on its front paws, which is an outgrowth of the sesamoid radius bone.

The tail part is very short, almost invisible under the fur covering. The exception is the giant panda, which has a fairly long and clearly visible tail. Any bear has relatively small eyes, a large head located on a thick and, as a rule, short neck. The skull is large, most often with an elongated facial part and highly developed ridges.

This is interesting! Bears have a highly developed sense of smell, and in some species it is quite comparable to a dog’s sense of smell, but such numerous and large predators an order of magnitude weaker.

The zygomatic arches are most often slightly spaced in different directions, and the jaws are powerful, providing very high levels of bite force. All representatives of the Bear family are characterized by the presence of large fangs and incisors, and the remaining teeth may be partially reduced, but their appearance and structure most often depend on the type of nutrition. The total number of teeth can vary between 32-42 pieces. The presence of individual or age-related variability in the dental system is often observed.

Character and lifestyle

Bears are typical predators leading a solitary lifestyle, so such animals prefer to meet each other solely for the purpose of mating. Males, as a rule, behave aggressively and are capable of killing cubs that are near the female for a long time. Representatives of the Bear family are distinguished by their good adaptability to a variety of living conditions, therefore they are able to inhabit high mountain areas, forest zones, arctic ice and steppe, and the main differences lie in the way of nutrition and lifestyle.

A significant portion of bear species live in lowland and mountain forest zones of temperate or tropical latitudes. The predator is somewhat less common in high mountain areas without dense vegetation. Some species are characterized by a clear connection to aquatic environment, including mountain or forest streams, rivers and sea ​​coasts. The Arctic, as well as vast expanses

This is interesting! Arctic Ocean - habitat habitat of polar bears, and the lifestyle of an ordinary brown bear is associated with subtropical forests, taiga, steppes and tundra, desert areas.

Most bears fall into the category of terrestrial carnivores, but polar bears are semi-aquatic members of the family. Malayan bears are typical adherents of a semi-arboreal lifestyle, therefore they are able to climb trees perfectly and create a shelter for themselves or the so-called “nest”. Some species of bears choose holes near the root system of trees and crevices of sufficient size as their habitat.

As a rule, representatives of the Bear family and the Predatory order lead night look life, so they rarely go hunting in the daytime. However, polar bears may be considered an exception to such general rules. Predatory mammals leading a solitary lifestyle unite during the “ mating games"and mating, as well as for raising their offspring. Among other things, groups of such animals are observed at common watering places and traditional feeding areas.

How long do bears live?

The average life expectancy of bears in nature can vary depending on the species characteristics of this predatory mammal:

• Spectacled bears – two decades;
• Apennine brown bears - up to twenty years;
• Tien Shan brown bears - up to twenty years or a quarter of a century;
• Polar polar bears - just over a quarter of a century;
• Gubachi - just under twenty years old.

In captivity, the average life expectancy of a predatory mammal, as a rule, is noticeably longer. For example, brown bears can live in captivity for more than 40-45 years.

Types of bears

Area, distribution

Spectacled bears are the only representatives of the Bear family that inhabit South America, where the predator prefers the mountain forests of Venezuela and Ecuador, Colombia and Peru, as well as Bolivia and Panama. - inhabitant of the Lena, Kolyma and Anadyr river basins, most of Eastern Siberia and Stanovoy Range, Northern Mongolia, some regions of China and the border territory of Eastern Kazakhstan.

Grizzly bears are found primarily in western Canada and Alaska, with a small number remaining in continental America, including Montana and northwestern part Washington. Tien Shan brown bears are found on the Tien Shan ridges, as well as in the Dzungarian Alatau, which has peripheral mountain ranges, and Mazalai are found in the desert mountains of Tsagan-Bogdo and Atas-Bogdo, where sparse bushes and drainage dry riverbeds are located.

Polar bears are distributed circumpolarly, and live in the circumpolar regions in the northern hemisphere of our planet. White-breasted Himalayan bears prefer hilly and mountain forests of Iran and Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Himalayas, all the way to Japan and Korea. Representatives of the species in the Himalayas in summer rise to a height of three and even four thousand meters, and with the onset of cold weather they descend to the mountain foot.

Sponge whales live mainly in the tropics and subtropical forests India and Pakistan, in Sri Lanka and Nepal, as well as in Bangladesh and Bhutan. Biruangs are distributed from the northeastern part of India to Indonesia, including Sumatra and Kalimantan, and the subspecies Helarctos malayanus euryspilus inhabits the island of Borneo.

Bears in the planet's ecosystem

All representatives of the Bear family, due to their diet and impressive size, have a very noticeable impact on the fauna and flora in their habitats. The polar and brown bear species are involved in regulating the total number of ungulates and other animals.

All herbivorous bear species contribute to the active distribution of seeds of many plants. Polar bears are often accompanied by Arctic foxes, which eat their prey.

Bear diet

Spectacled bears are the most herbivorous in the family, and their main diet includes grassy shoots, fruits and rhizomes of plants, corn crops, and sometimes insects in the form of ants or termites. Important role The diet of the Siberian bear is devoted to fish, and Kodiaks are omnivores, feeding on both herbaceous plants, berries and roots, and meat foods, including fish and all kinds of carrion.

Pika-eating bears or Tibetan brown bears feed mainly on herbaceous plants, as well as pikas, which is how they got their name. The main prey of polar bears is ringed seals, bearded seals, walruses and many other marine animals. The predator does not disdain carrion, willingly feeds on dead fish, eggs and chicks, and can eat grass and all kinds of seaweed, and in inhabited areas it looks for food in numerous garbage dumps.

Diet of white-breasted or Himalayan bears 80-85% is represented by products of plant origin, but the predator is able to use ants and other insects, as well as highly nutritious mollusks and even frogs as food. Sloth bears, like , are adapted to eating primarily colonial insects, including termites and ants. All biruangs are omnivores, but primarily feed on insects, including bees and termites, as well as fruits and shoots, earthworms and plant rhizomes.

bears are herbivores or carnivores

1. omnivores!!
2. Browns are omnivores. Whites are predators
3. Bears are omnivores. They eat grass, berries, mushrooms, they will not refuse fish, especially meat, they put on fat - they eat everything until they are completely stupefied.
   But pandas only eat bamboo, and polar bears prefer the fat of seals and seals.
4. predators, of course
5. The bear is an omnivore like humans
6. predators, but when they are hungry they can pick raspberries and chew grass =)
7. 100% carnivores-predators, because they eat meat and hunt. Only carnivores can hunt and eat meat, first of all, and only then fish, mushrooms, nuts, honey, berries, grass, roots. But herbivores cannot eat meat.
8. omnivorous
9. omnivores
10. omnivorous
11. the bear is omnivorous. he eats almost everything he can eat. in summer, plant foods predominate, most animal protein in the bear's diet is small animals. rodents. insects. The bear rarely engages in direct hunting, especially hunting large animals, only in the absence of more accessible and less “dangerous” food
12. Predators))
13. Differently
14. polar bear, grizzly bear, spectacled bear and many other representatives of the bear family eat - forest berries, nuts, honey, rodents, carrion, large mammals, other plants. FROM THE ORDER THEY ARE PREDATORS. but the koala, which belongs to the marsupial bear family, is a herbivorous bear.
15. Bears are omnivores. In principle, they eat plant food all the time, and animal food only when it comes into their paws
16. Bears (lat. Ursidae) are a family of mammals of the order Carnivora. They differ from other representatives of canids in having a stockier physique. Bears are omnivores, climb and swim well, run fast, and can stand and walk short distances on their hind legs. They have a short tail, long and thick fur, and excellent sense of smell and hearing. They hunt in the evening or at dawn. They are usually afraid of humans, but can be dangerous in areas where they are accustomed to people, especially polar bears and grizzly bears. Immune to bee stings. In nature natural enemies almost none.
17. Anatomically they are predators. Teeth, then – s. And he cannot live on plant foods all the time. But in last years In many regions, bears are increasingly using plant foods. In this regard, its numbers are growing; in some places there are significantly more of them than wolves. That is, he seems to be falling off the top of the food pyramid.